I have this book and I've been reading it off and on for a couple months now.

I think it's fair to mention as a caveat that this is not an introductory book for those who do not have previous experience as a Unix/Linux user. You're told how to use man, but beyond that there's no introduction to common shell commands; if you didn't already know how to cd and ls and such, this book won't teach you. You're told to edit various config files and such, but not how to use vi/emacs/et al to do so!

On the other hand, if you're already a luser and ready to step up to being a l33t and/or sysadmin, this book will definitely help. That was pretty much my situation, so I'm learning a lot from this tome. But if I hadn't already been familiar with finding my way around a Unix shell, I'd be totally lost.

It will be propably updated with Xen domU setup after 8.0 will be released, propably also something about cpu set affinities and VirtualBox setup.

__________________religions, worst damnation of mankind"If 386BSD had been available when I started on Linux, Linux would probably never had happened." Linus TorvaldsLinux is not UNIX! Face it! It is not an insult. It is fact: GNU is a recursive acronym for “GNU's Not UNIX”.vermaden's:linksresourcesdeviantartspreadbsd

>If that was to happen, what new material would people like to see added? What would you like to see cut out of it?

Well a short introduction for beginners would be nice too, it's an often heard critique if someone that recommends this book. "Short" in terms of an essential introduction to the console, maybe the difference to GNU userland too (for former Linux users).

__________________religions, worst damnation of mankind"If 386BSD had been available when I started on Linux, Linux would probably never had happened." Linus TorvaldsLinux is not UNIX! Face it! It is not an insult. It is fact: GNU is a recursive acronym for “GNU's Not UNIX”.vermaden's:linksresourcesdeviantartspreadbsd

No, I'm not working on a third edition at this date. But I hope to some day, when life permits me to do more writing.

If that was to happen, what new material would people like to see added? What would you like to see cut out of it?

That is a very easy question. I would have to look the content of the 2nd edition carefully but from the top of my head I would like to see this:

Installation:
More advanced ways of installing FreeBSD including PXE, NFS, as well as something along RedHat kick start installation. Installation FreeBSD on the USB stick as well as creating LiveCD. Also creating embedded images using NanoBSD tools from the base.

There has been so many changes since the last edition. You will need to add the two new chapters on:ZFS and DTrace.

I am not sure how much there is about virtualization in the last book. You will need to wait for Xen to run as Dom0 and write the chapter about it. Also it would be good to have sections about VirtualBox. WMWare if it gets updated and similar.

To stay on the virtualization there has been significant changes in Jails. You can now run multiple IP addresses from the same Jail. I would like to see lots of space devoted to Jails including examples like running www server from the Jail.

Revision of security. Big section about encryption. Use of Geli for the things like encryption of the swap during the installation. Some description of the userland crypto programs as scrypt for instance. Encryption of /home for the laptop users.

There has been many hardware support changes. You need to address changes in USB stack for instance. New sound layer. So something about sound would be really nice. Oh I am forgetting. You need to address HAL daemon and its use. Yes, including the features like auto mounting.

Small services chapter has to be revised. It should include saned service. Scanning is now essential. Couple lines about CUPS would not hurt. Setting up point of sale. Using barcode readers.

The list goes on and on. Send me a PP email if you want to talk more about it. Essentially Absolute FreeBSD is ripe for the new edition. If somebody pays you to do it, I think it is the right time.

I am primarily OpenBSD user. Absolute OpenBSD is ripe for the second edition too. There has been so many exciting new things in the OpenBSD world.

What happen with your notes on Absolute NetBSD? There is has not been a single book written about NetBSD. The project seems invigorated and there are so many new exciting things. You can write couple chapters just about puffs, refuse, FUSE, and more. I know you have a limited time but you could share your old notes and find somebody in NetBSD tabor who will help you complete the book. NetBSD is hot for the first time in many years.

DragonFly is mature enough that it deserves Absolute DragonFly book. Probably one should wait for the native kernel support for clustering though but just a chapter about Hammer would sell probably couple thousand copies of the book.

Most Kind Regards,
OKO

P.S. The question is not if there is a need and demand for new editions of your books. The question is if you have time, energy, and if you can find somebody to pay you to do it. I could easily imagine you writing about BSDs for the next 2-3 years on the full time basis. Can you find somebody to pay you to do that?

This book is intended for people who already have some admin background with some form of UNIX/GNU/Linux. No black art skills are required but newbies will struggle to understand it.

It's well written, comprehensive and gives additional background where applicable. It doesn't go down into the very detail of everything, but where the book leaves you, it suggests where to look for more information whether it is another book, manpages, internet, ... .

Last but not least, I should close the windows whilst reading this book. The neighbours are wondering what makes me laugh out loud. It is a personal thing but I like the humour very much!

So bottom line, yes I recommend this book if you want to give yourself a good understanding of OpenBSD. It will probably stay close to me for the coming few months.

The project seems invigorated and there are so many new exciting things. You can write couple chapters just about puffs, refuse, FUSE, and more. I know you have a limited time but you could share your old notes and find somebody in NetBSD tabor who will help you complete the book. NetBSD is hot for the first time in many years.

Oh lets not beat a dead horse. You can use google and check on Michael's web page why NetBSD is never going to happen (once upon time it was actually in works). The original thread was about possible third edition of Absolute FreeBSD book. The more recent posts are on Absolute OpenBSD second edition which is a fine fine book just like the first edition.